Motor racing-Pirelli agrees new four-year Formula One deal (updated)

Hankook Tire & Technology

25/11/2018 10:23

* Pirelli to remain sole Formula One supplier
    * New deal runs to end of 2023 season
    * Change to 18 inch tyres in 2021

 (Adds detail)
    ABU DHABI, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Pirelli has signed a new
four-year deal to remain Formula One's sole tyre supplier until
the end of the 2023 season, the sport  announced in a statement
on Sunday.
    "We are delighted to have reached this agreement, which
guarantees a long-term stable future for such a crucial
component of Formula One," Formula One chairman Chase Carey
said.
    The current deal was due to expire at the end of 2019 and
the governing FIA said last September that more than one company
had tendered, although Pirelli's French rival Michelin had ruled
itself out.
    Media reports had indicated South Korea's Hankook as the
other bidder.
    The tender called for a switch from 13-inch (33.02 cm) wheel
rims to 18-inch ones in 2021, meaning that any new entrant faced
the added cost of having to design one type of tyre for 2020 and
a new one for the following three years.
    Pirelli confirmed its commitment "to work together towards
the new technical regulations expected for 2021, including the
18-inch tyre".
    Michelin withdrew from Formula One in 2006, a year after a
farcical U.S. Grand Prix that went ahead with only six cars
racing after all the Michelin-equipped teams pulled out on
safety grounds.
    The sport has had a sole supplier since then, with
Bridgestone replaced by Pirelli in 2011.

 (Writing by Alan Baldwin in London; Editing by John O'Brien)
 ((alan.baldwin@thomsonreuters.com; +442075427933; Reuters
Messaging: alan.baldwin.reuters.com@thomsonreuters.net))